Excerpt from A Rose of NormandyHis Most Christian Majesty believed in the deterrent effect the sight of the final act in the drama of a criminal's life had upon all good citi zens. He likewise wished at times that his people, even those of the lower classes, should be amused. Accordingly he achieved these two ends by frequent public executions in the Place de la Greve. This, being a commodious square hard by the Pont Notre Dame, was well adapted to a large audience, while the balcony of the hotel de Ville at its southern end afforded an excellent pedestal on which the King and the beauties and gallants Of his court could show themselves whenever an execution of especial importance took place.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.